Another Moon

Two weeks ago I was on another continent and now I'm right in the thick of it all. Back to work with the kids, a show on Friday, already out of groceries and even new job opportunity (more to do with working with kids). 

In the midst of living, I feel adventurous and want to explore more experiences. For some reason the thought of surviving a cross-Pacific flight for thirteen hours and traveling through time backwards from China to Vancouver make me appreciate life. This is why I have decided that in two years, I will be moving to Montreal. Thus leaving me with the biggest conquest yet to achieve - learning French.

Speaking of French, I watched a fantastic film by Tarantino the other day which some of you may have heard of; Inglorious Basterds. In it, the people spoke very little English and one Nazi was fluent in both French and German and Hitler was assassinated by brutal machine gun swiss-cheesing. It made me realize two things: one, European languages are beautiful. Two, if Hitler had in fact die that way, perhaps the world would be a different place.

After coming back from China, the very thought of living in a totalitarian society frightens me and haunts my democratic dreams (in which I speak English but hope one day that will become French). And perhaps this is a little too preachy and even patronizing but I think every young Canadians should be as politically active as they possibly can and exercise their democratic freedom in all ways possible. As one of the best countries in the world, we really don't realize the extent of our liberty. Seriously, just go read an article about what's happening in nations such as North Korea or Iraq. The fact that I can blog, post photos and even openly discuss controversial topic such as sexual politics and anti-establishmentarianism without paying much consequences is an absolute privilege.

Front Woman

As a woman of this society and someone who is very aware of the gender issues we face on a daily basis, this past week had been a total emotional roller coaster ride. In addition to hearing about the recent atrocities involving the facebook photo postings of a gang rape of a 16 year old girl in Maple Ridge, I learned about the story of Teena Brandon on Monday after watching Boys Don't Cry. As if that was not enough, yesterday, I witnessed first hand an assault of a woman by a man in the back parking lot of my work. Though it is only Thursday, too soon to tell how I would feel for the rest of my life, I have a suspicion that this newly awakened anger and sadness towards the current trend of how women are treated will stay with me for a long time. The truth is, I have felt this way for a long time about all sorts of issues and social injustices, but the difference between reading and seeing first hand a violent act committed towards a woman is unimaginable; the latter experience makes the problem of gender violence a lot more immediate and urgent. Seeing how this is affecting me so much already, I choose not to go into the subject. But I want to raise awareness about it because it is all too real even though sometimes we forget because of how sheltered our lives can get sometimes with our daily routines.

I will end on a positive note by posting my band's first recording for you all to scrutinize. Actually, I'm quite proud of it because I think it sounds pretty good for the first take. Plus I didn't mess up once playing guitar and singing at the same time, even though you can't really hear me and our timing was off at various points throughout the song. Regardless, this is the first song we've ever wrote, so be kind. It's called "King Cats" and it's about ligers.


(sorry about the ads in there, but this the only way I know how to upload an mp3s onto blogger)

Glorious and Free?

I'd just like to take a moment, a serious moment to discuss the recent happenings in Toronto at the G20 Summit. For those of you who live in Canada but are unaware of the current situation I direct you to the news and/or Youtube. This is a matter concerning a threat to our democratic rights and freedoms as well as your responsibility as a free agent.To be honest, before yesterday I was not even aware of the G20 Summit. After being shocked and baffled by what I briefly saw on the news yesterday morning, I knew that it was a big deal or else people wouldn't be protesting and the protests wouldn't turn into violence. As I learned more about this global meeting and what it stood for and why people in Toronto were so furious with it, I started to get a real sense of just what is at stake. I'm not going to comment on the social reasons behind the oppositions to the G20 Summit because that would take up a whole other post. Instead, I want to talk about the government's response to the protests and the injustices and atrocities that turned the peaceful demonstrators into militant activists.
According to Naava Smolash's account on the recent G20 protest in Toronto and Olympic protest in Vancouver, just prior to the G20 Summit, the government of Toronto past a new which granted the police the right to randomly conduct body searches on and demand I.D. from whomever they fancy. This law was passed unbeknown to Toronto citizens and it is because of this "new rule", random by-standers who my not even be necessarily involved with the protest were stopped and questioned by the police around the G20 Summit convention perimeter. Aside from the unjustifiable authority to violate citizens' privacy, as many videos and journalists documented, the Toronto police also made illegal arrests and attacked peaceful protesters and journalists throughout the day. But perhaps the most perverse thing of it all is that many mainstream media sources have twisted the story and framed the report and referred to the protesters who chose to deliver their message by smashing symbolic and inanimate objects (the most poignant example is of the burning police car with the phrase "to serve and protect" clearly seen in photograph) as "thugs and hooligans". Many people criticize these people as "violent", but my question remains, how is smashing non-living, materialistic property violent while pepper-spraying and striking people with batons "lawful", "just" and "non-violent"?Ten years ago, I immigrated from China to Canada and never in a million years did I expect a violation of human rights would happen here in a country which takes pride in its progressiveness and civil rights. How ironic is this: by exercising democratic principles (namely the right to peaceful assembly and the right from unreasonable search and seizure), the citizens of Toronto were subjected to harassment and arrests? Yesterday's events were almost reminiscent of a history of bloodshed in my home country where thousands died, fighting for democracy and freedom. And twenty-one years later, in a democratic country I see the same type of police-state control, oppression and unjust violation perpetrated against its people. Except in this case the hypocrisy makes it even more disturbing and unforgivable.

I am going to be away until next Monday, so no posts for a bit.

Is it Chemically Derived?

Recently, I started a vegetable garden in my back yard so gardening has become a new hobby of mine. I spent the whole afternoon today watering my precious, organic vegetables and it's been very serene and rewarding watching them grow and flourish. But my main motive for growing a vegetable garden started with me wanting to lead a more sustainable lifestyle. Ever since I became a vegetarian five years ago I've been looking for ways to substitute meat-eating with more sustainable alternatives. However, as I became more committed to my vegetarianism and sustainable living, I began to get dissatisfied even with vegetables. I'm always suspicious of where my food came from because I really had no choice but to scrutinize everything I buy in order to be a responsible vegetarian. But vegetables had never been a target of my incessant inspection until I saw the documentary "Our Daily Bread and realized just how foreign (literally) our food has become.
My first realization of this detachment occurred at Save-On-Foods when I saw pineapples on the shelves in mid January. I knew that we couldn't grow tropical fruits here in Canada even without it being the middle of the winter so I my suspicion told me to read the label. So after I found out that it was imported from the U.S. I went around the entire produce section and examined every item. And almost all of them were imported from somewhere outside the country. Having learned that I was instantly disillusioned and realized just how "unsustainable" our food is. I mean, a copious amount of resources must have already been utilized to grow all those out-of season pineapples. So on top of all that, lots of fuels were also used to transport all of them thousands of kilometers away. And it might just be a fruit to a consumer, but it itself is a commodity -- possessing an economic value yet the labor behind it is completely overlooked and its existence is taken for granted. Therefore, ever since then I have been trying to avoid buying imported and out of season food. And since I can't always afford organic and locally grown vegetables, I figured I can just plant them. After all, food is food and they bear social significance to us because they keep us alive. Therefore, they should be easily attainable, natural and I think it is important that always know what we're eating and how they got on our plates.

I guess I was trying to channel my inner farmer with these rompers but my favorite part of this whole outfit was the shoes matched the bag perfectly